


The Lost Princess

by ChristaWolf



Series: Tails of Sparks and Emmy [5]
Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23285362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristaWolf/pseuds/ChristaWolf
Summary: A non-canon alternate ending to The Adventure of the Stolen Crown that asks, "What if Twilight and Emerald were unable to return to Equestria?"
Series: Tails of Sparks and Emmy [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559458





	1. No Direction Home

The grounds of Canterlot High were rapidly emptying as the students traveled to their homes following the end of the Fall Formal. The only exceptions were a small cluster of five teenage girls grouped around the Wondercolt statue. The moon was already high in the sky, it seemed as though the portal would be closing in a few minutes.

Raven checked her phone. “Uh-oh, it’s already five to twelve… you’ll have to get going, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded, looking to the distant form of Sunset trudging back to the school. “You'll look out for her, won't you?”

“Of course we will,” Vinyl reassured her, smiling. “Though I hope she’ll be apologizing for all the disasters she caused. Like last semester, when she stole my car and crashed it into a ditch.”

Twilight chuckled. “I have a feeling she'll be handing out a lot of apologies.” Then, with a wistful sigh, she glanced up toward the moon. “I know we've only been friends for a short time, but I'm gonna miss all of you so much!”

“We’ll miss you, Princess Twilight,” said Gem, hugging Twilight tight. “Do come back and visit, won’t you?”

“I’m sure I can think of some way to circumvent the 30-moon limitation,” Twilight replied, returning the hug. Then, all of a sudden, their bodies (which had been changed into humanoid pony form during the battle) abruptly shifted back to human.

Raven blinked as she looked at herself. “Uh… shouldn’t that have waited until after you guys went through?”

“Yes,” said Twilight, frowning. She walked over to the portal and stuck her hand through it… or at least, that was what she had planned to do, but her fingertips only met cold stone. She gasped. “Oh no, no no nononononoNO! The lock’s been engaged!”

Vinyl raised her hand. “Lock?”

“The portal back to Equestria only opens every thirty moons,” Emerald explained. “Once it locks, there’s no way back until it opens again.”

“How long is thirty moons?” Vinyl asked.

Emerald shrugged. “About two and a half years, I think… but it might be slower here.”

“I’m almost certain it is,” Twilight said. “When I was researching time spells in the Canterlot Archives a couple of years ago, I found some of Starswirl’s notes regarding inter-dimensional time dilation. According to his research, time passes more slowly in alien realms relative to Equestria. For example: while a week has passed here, only three days will have passed in our home dimension. When Luna said we would only have a week to get my crown, she was referring to this world.” She sighed. “Which means there’s good news and bad news.”

“What’s the good news?” Emerald asked.

“The good news is, when the portal does unlock again, only two and a half years will have passed back home,” Twilight said. “The bad news is that the time spent here will be just over five years.”

“And we are between the ages of sixteen and seventeen,” Gem reasoned, “which means by the time you two are able to return home…”

“We’ll be in our 20s,” Raven finished for her. “That’s a pretty long time.”

“Do we still have magic, at least?” Emerald asked.

Twilight hummed thoughtfully. “I’m not really sure… let me see.” She took out her cell phone and placed it on the ground, then, adjusting the crown’s position on her head, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate, trying to cast a basic levitation spell. With some effort, the star gem glowed and the phone managed to float a few inches off the ground, but it quickly fell back down again.

Twilight opened her eyes, panting. “That took a lot more energy than it usually does… but it’s enough to confirm that while I do have magic, there’s not a lot for it to be terribly useful. As long as the portal remains locked, the statue is just an ordinary statue. That’s why we changed back into humans, the background magic field here is close to non-existent without the portal, so the changes couldn’t be sustained.”

“I see.” Gem heaved a sigh. “Well, while it is very sad that you won’t be able to return home for quite a while… at least you aren’t alone.” She took Twilight’s hand in hers, and squeezed it. “My home will always be your home, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled at that and nodded, looking around at the three humans. “I think Emerald and I can get used to life here, now that we have more time to spend. How about it, Emmy?”

Emerald smiled too. “Yeah, I think so. If we’re gonna be here for five years, we might as well make the best of it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Gem beamed. “Shall we go home, girls?”  
“Let’s!” said Raven, and the five of them trooped off toward the student parking lot. Vinyl broke away to get into her own car and drive home, while Gem, Raven, Emerald, and Twilight all piled into Raven’s car.

“Wait!” said Gem suddenly, even as her girlfriend turned the key in the ignition. “What about Sunset?”

“What about Sunset?” Raven asked. “You’re not thinking of inviting her, are you? There’s barely enough room for four people, forget five!”

“It’s the least we can do,” said Gem, frowning. “And I really thought that you, of all people, would be willing to give her a second chance.”

Raven sighed and leaned her head against the dashboard. “Fine, fine… go and see if she wants to join, we’ll squeeze her in somehow…”

Gem unbuckled her seatbelt and zipped out of the car, jogging across the empty campus to the lonely figure of Sunset Shimmer, who was starting to head back to the part of town where she lived. “Sunset Shimmer! Wait, please!”

Sunset turned around at the sound of her name. “Gemini?” she asked, puzzled. “What do you want?”

“I came to ask if you’d like to sleep over at my house tonight,” Gem answered. “Everyone needs a place to sleep, even repentant bullies.”

Sunset thought about it for a long moment… but eventually, she shook her head. “I’ve got a place… but… uh, thanks. I guess.”

Gem smiled. “You’re welcome, Sunset. Will I be seeing you on Monday?”

Sunset shook her head. “The Monday after next… Luna put me on a week’s out of school suspension as punishment for tonight.”

Gem nodded. “I’ll be sure to collect your homework then, so you don’t fall behind.” 

Then she wrapped the amber-skinned ex-unicorn in a hug. “By the way… a couple of things you should know.”

“Yeah?” Sunset blinked. “What?”

Gem raised a finger. “The first is that I forgive you. The second is that Princess Twilight and Emerald are still here.”

Sunset’s jaw dropped. “What?! I would’ve thought they’d be back in Equestria by now! Why the buck would they choose to stay here?!”

“They didn’t choose,” Gem explained. “The portal closed before they could go through, they won’t be able to return home until it opens again.”

Sunset sighed heavily. “Well… that’s definitely unexpected. But at least we’re all on the same playing field.” She yawned. “Anyway… I really do have to get home, Gemini. I have to be back here first thing to help with cleanup.”

“Goodnight, Sunset,” said Gem, smiling warmly. “And please… call me Gem.” Waving, she jogged back over to Raven’s car, and soon it pulled out of the parking lot, headed back toward Gem’s house.

* * *

It was very late indeed as Gem, Raven, Twilight, and Emerald climbed out of Raven’s car and went inside Gem’s house. Emerald yawned widely, rubbing her eyes. “Buck me, I’m exhausted… I’m gonna sleep like a log tonight.”

“I think we all will,” Gem agreed, climbing the stairs up to the master bedroom, which she and Raven shared. “Goodnight, girls.”

“Goodnight, Gem!” Twilight said with a smile, stepping into what she now supposed was their room, rather than simply a guest room. As Emerald closed the door, Twilight attempted to take off her dress, her fingers fumbling with the zipper on the back.

“Let me get it, Sparks,” said Emerald, chuckling. “I think I’m better with fingers than you are.” She took the zipper between her thumb and index finger, then pulled. With a soft zipping noise, the back of the dress came apart, and Twilight was able to pull it off.

“Thanks,” Twilight said as she worked her way out of the dress and hung it up in the closet. “I can’t believe this world is going to be our home for the next five years… I hope we still have an Equestria to go back to by then.”

“What makes you think we won’t?” Emerald asked, taking off the shoes she’d worn with her dress. “I thought you told Sunset Equestria would find a way to survive without your Element.”

“It’s only a hope, Emmy,” Twilight said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Without her dress, she was wearing only the bra and panties the portal had given her, allowing Emerald to see more of that gorgeous lavender complexion she loved so much. “Our enemies won’t wait to strike once they realize I’m gone. We could return to an Equestria that’s enslaved, or maybe even an empty wasteland!”

Emerald pulled Twilight close, nuzzling her cheek affectionately. “You’re exaggerating again, sweetie,” she said softly. “Cadance and the Sisters are pretty powerful all by themselves, and Celestia and Luna know a thing or two about defeating monsters. Tomorrow is Saturday, so we have all day to try and figure out a way to establish contact with Equestria.”

Twilight nodded. “And if there’s anypony who can help us with that, it’s Sunset Shimmer. She could be a huge help in helping us adjust to life here, and getting in touch with home.” She yawned widely. “But we can do that tomorrow.”

“We sure can,” Emerald replied, kissing Twilight on the lips. “Filly steps, Twi.”

“Filly steps,” Twilight echoed. With some difficulty, they managed to remove their bras, and then Twilight turned off the light, climbing into bed beside Emerald. In a few moments both of them were asleep.

* * *

In Equestria, the three princesses had gathered in front of the mirror to wait for Twilight. It had been three days there since she had left, and all of them hoped that the youngest princess would soon step through, accompanied by her loyal consort.

But as the clock ticked, nothing continued to happen. The glass did not ripple, and a purple hoof did not cross through the gateway between dimensions. Soon, one of the castle’s clocks tolled midnight, and Luna broke the silence. 

“The window has closed,” she said flatly, her expression devoid of emotion. It was something Celestia was familiar with, as Luna had once served as the warrior princess to her diplomat. “If Twilight Sparkle still lives, she will not be able to return home for another thirty moons.”

Celestia began to cry, tears sliding down her cheeks. “I can’t believe it… two students gone in as many years… first Sunset, now Twilight…”

“Do you really think she’s dead, Auntie Luna?” Cadance asked. “Could she have been killed?”

Luna shrugged. “It is impossible to say, Mi Amore Cadenza. I hope she is still alive, but Sunset Shimmer’s theft of the crown, combined with the unpredictability of how our magic functions in that other realm, does not fill me with confidence.” She sighed. “Tia… I believe the time has come to launch Operation Fallen Star.”

Celestia gulped. “Lulu… surely you aren’t serious…”

“I am,” Luna replied. “Not for our sake, but for the sake of our ponies.”

Celestia gave a deep, shuddering sigh. “Very well… I shall have the Royal Express prepared, and we can be back in Canterlot by morning.”

Cadance raised a hoof. “Auntie Celestia, what exactly is Operation Fallen Star?”

“It…” Celestia paused, collecting herself. “It is a codename referring to the plans for what will happen in the event of Twilight’s death,” she eventually said. “As you know, a princess does not become immortal until her accession to the throne. Luna and I reached immortality after the three pony tribes chose us to rule after the death of Princess Platinum, and you did it when you took the throne of the Crystal Empire. As Twilight has… had… only been a princess for a short time, she had not yet been able to hit that point, which means she is… was… as mortal as anypony else.”

Cadance looked horrified. “You mean, we’re going to tell Equestria that my sister-in-law is dead?!”

“Not dead, per se,” Luna interrupted. “Only that she vanished in the act of protecting Equestria. We made a similar statement after Starswirl and the Pillars disappeared into Limbo following their defeat of the Pony of Shadows. If she is indeed alive, then she will be welcomed upon her return home as a heroine. If she is dead, then there will be no need to enact the operation twice. This gives us…” Luna paused. “I believe the modern expression is wiggle room.”

“I see.” Cadance sighed, suddenly feeling the true weight of the crown she wore upon her head. “How can I help?”

“Tell your husband,” Celestia replied. “Luna and I will travel back to Canterlot tonight. On our way home, I will inform our private secretary, who will in turn let the prime minister and the news media know by means of an enchanted scroll. The Prime Minister will also give a speech to members of Parliament.”

“What about Twilight’s friends?” Cadance asked.

“They will be told as well,” Luna replied, “even before the prime minister.” She sighed. “Be on guard for scrolls, Cadance. We will need the Crystal Empire’s assistance in preparations.”

Cadance nodded. “We’ll do whatever we can, Aunties. I promise.” She hugged both of the elder alicorns tight, then began the long walk back to the royal suite, where Shining Armor was still asleep.

As Celestia and Luna walked toward the castle entrance, Luna sighed once more. “Tia… I fear Twilight’s disappearance may be the signal our enemies need to try and strike Equestria down. With the Elements rendered useless, they will have plenty of opportunity to do so.”

“I know, Lulu,” Celestia replied, her eyes still wet with tears. “But one crisis at a time… filly steps.”

Luna nodded. “Filly steps.”


	2. The Two Students

The morning sun rose over the city of Canterlot once again, though on this particular occasion, it was quickly obscured by clouds. Twilight woke up first, slowly opening her eyes and looking around at the room in which she found herself. It was a simply furnished bedroom, with a queen-size bed dominating it along with a closet, a chest of drawers, a nightstand, and a desk with two chairs in front to sit at and work.

Twilight sat up, looking down at the sleeping form of the yellow-skinned girl she loved best, and kissed her gently on the nose. “Good morning, Emmy,” she whispered, a soft smile on her face.

Emerald mumbled something and sat up as well, putting on her glasses. “Hi Sparks… what time is it?”

“7:15,” Twilight replied, checking the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. Her crown sat beside it, sparkling in the light of day. “Did you sleep alright?”

Emerald shrugged. “I guess… I kept having really weird dreams. I’m in a field at night, there’s a lake, and I’m a pony. I trot over to the lake, look at my reflection, and see a human. Then there’s a pair of eyes that open nearby, and then I wake up.”

“That is strange,” Twilight observed. “What color are the eyes?”

“Blue-green,” Emerald said at once. “Always blue-green. Sunset’s eyes were the same color, do you think it could be her doing?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, it can’t be. Sunset is as powerless as we are. The eye color is either a coincidence, or they belong to somepony else… but I can’t think of whom.” She stretched. “Anyway… I guess we should get dressed, huh? Humans and their nudity taboos…”

“Tell me about it,” Emerald commented, laughing softly as she threw on a t-shirt Raven had donated. “That’s one of the things I still don’t really get about them. Why can’t they have fur like sensible creatures?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” said Twilight, swiftly changing into a t-shirt and sweat pants. 

Once they were dressed, they headed downstairs to find Gem already awake and busily preparing breakfast! There was the sound of several things sizzling, including something that looked and smelled like bacon. 

Gem smiled as she turned to face her roommates. “Good morning, girls!” she said happily. “I’m making breakfast for all four of us!”

“Is that… meat?” Twilight asked, slightly nervously. She and Emerald had abstained from eating it so far, not because they couldn’t process it (they could) but because, having been born ponies, the idea of eating meat disturbed them.

Gem shook her head. “Actually, it’s a plant-based meat substitute,” she explained. “It tastes like meat and feels like meat, but in actual fact, it’s entirely acceptable for vegetarians, or ponies turned humans, to enjoy.” 

“Really? Huh.” Emerald chuckled. “Back home, we usually just have haybacon, but I guess humans can’t digest that, can they?”

“We sure can’t,” said a new voice. Raven came down the stairs and into the kitchen, wearing one of her older brother’s old t-shirts (it read CASTLETON, even though he’d never been there) and not much else, allowing all of them a view of her long legs, which were the same shade of lavender as Twilight’s. “Breakfast smells great, Gem. Full Braytish?”

“A pony-friendly one, yes,” Gem confirmed. “That means scrambled egg, veggie bacon strips, baked beans, fried tomato, toast with butter, mushrooms, and hash browns.”

“That sounds amazing!” Twilight exclaimed, beaming. “Have you ever had that, Emmy?!”

Emerald nodded. “Once or twice, when I lived with… ah… Gem’s pony counterpart.”

Gem chuckled. “You can say his name, Emerald. My feelings won’t be hurt. He and I may have once shared a name, but we are very different individuals.” She continued cooking breakfast, cracking several eggs and quickly scrambling them, while Raven took care of the toast, tomatoes, hash browns, mushrooms, and baked beans.

Before long, the four of them were grouped around the kitchen table, tucking into the delicious meal. Twilight cautiously tried the plant bacon, and smiled. “You’re right, it really isn’t meat! I can taste the plant matter!”

Gem beamed. “I knew you’d like it! How do you find the rest of the meal?”  
Emerald nodded approvingly. “This is excellent stuff, Gem. Do you want to be a chef when you grow up?”

Gem shook her head. “No, I just enjoy cooking for the people I love. I haven’t decided what I will do for my career yet.”

“You have plenty of time,” said Raven, kissing Gem on the cheek. “Not like we get a butt tattoo that tells us what we have to do.” She thought for a second. “What are those called again? Beauty marks?”

“Cutie marks,” Twilight corrected. “And while in most cases they do refer to a given pony’s special talent, a pony’s life isn’t necessarily defined by it.”

Emerald nodded. “I got my cutie mark for my audio work, but I’m currently the assistant librarian at the Ponyville library. Ponies have free will, just like you humans.”

“Even so, cutie marks sound fascinating,” Gem observed. “As far as I know, we can’t get them, but we do have some type of symbol we are attached to for one reason or another. Mine, for example, is clocks!”

“And mine is birds and stars,” Raven added. “Like that pin on my favorite jacket, the one with the ripped sleeves.”

“Really?” Twilight hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe ponies and humans are more closely related than I initially realized… I’ll have to ask Sunset about it when I see her today.”  
“Oh, are you going to visit her?” Gem asked, leaning forward slightly.

Twilight nodded. “I’ve got to. She was Princess Celestia’s student before I was, and I’ll need whatever help she can offer in establishing some kind of a link between this world and Equestria, if it’s even possible. And…” She looked down. “I kind of feel responsible for last night… even though everything that happened isn’t my fault, I still feel some responsibility.”

Gem nodded. “I understand. I think visiting her is a good idea, for both her and you.”  
“Will you be wanting company?” Emerald asked. 

Twilight shook her head. “No… she’s harmless now, and the crown is useless to both of us anyway. This is just going to be a conversation between two students, mare to mare.” She looked across the table at Gem. “You have her address, yes?”

Gem nodded, taking out her phone and quickly sending Twilight a text. “616 Stirrup Street,” she said. “The best time to visit will probably be in the afternoon, when she finishes basic cleanup at school.” She smiled at Raven. “You’ll never guess who she’s working with today.”

“Who?” Raven asked, and as her girlfriend mimed someone taking off a stetson, she laughed. “Longhaul, huh? Ain’t that something… well, if there’s anyone who can cheer her up, it’s him.”

“Who’s Longhaul?” Twilight asked, with some interest.

“One of the bus drivers at school,” Gem explained. “But he also works as Canterlot High’s informal guidance counselor. Raven and I are very close to him, in fact it’s because of him that we met.”

Raven nodded. “One semester, Shimmer and I had a really nasty fight, and almost got expelled. But Longhaul talked Luna down and got us a suspension instead. Then, when Gem got here, he recommended that I talk to her, so I did. Then one thing led to another and we were dating.”

“Aw, how sweet!” Twilight smiled. “Maybe someday we’ll meet him too.” She stood up and carried her breakfast dishes to the sink. “Thanks again for breakfast, Gem, it was delicious!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Twilight,” Gem said happily. “Don’t worry about washing up, I’ll take care of it. Good luck with Sunset!”

“Thank you!” Twilight cheered, before heading back upstairs to change into something a little more presentable.

* * *

That afternoon, Sunset Shimmer was idly flipping through one of the magic books that she had brought with her from Equestria, wearing dark pink pajamas with an image of her own cutie mark printed on the front of the shirt. She was exhausted, having spent the entire morning cleaning up the construction site that would, eventually, become the front entrance of Canterlot High once again.

As she flipped the pages, she considered how her life had gone up to this point: she was born to a couple of well-off but otherwise unremarkable Canterlot socialites, both of whom perished in a fire when she had been six. Orphaned, Princess Celestia herself had taken her in, sensing an exceptional amount of raw talent in the young filly. Sunset had been an eager student, taking to her lessons with much enthusiasm.

But it didn’t last. When Sunset had been 19, she first found the mirror that Starswirl had built, and saw an image of herself as an alicorn. She became utterly obsessed with the mirror, demanding that Celestia reveal its secrets, but time and time again Celestia refused, saying she wasn’t ready.

But matters quickly got out of control. Late one night, Celestia had caught Sunset in the library’s restricted section, researching what she could about the mirror and its powers. Confronting her student, Celestia had expelled Sunset from the position of royal pupil and exiled her from the castle, effective the following morning.

That night, Sunset had packed what belongings she had and fled through the mirror, finding herself in the world that had become her home over five years. She wasted no time in establishing herself as not someone to be messed with, using this apartment as her home base, while setting up a reign of terror at Canterlot High. A reign that now, it seemed, was in tatters.

Sunset’s reverie was broken by the sound of someone knocking on the door. “IT’S OPEN!” she called out, closing the book and climbing down from her loft to the ground level of her apartment.

The door opened, and who else but Twilight Sparkle stepped into the room, her hands clasped in front of her as if she didn’t really know what to do with them. She looked up at Sunset and gulped, suddenly keenly aware of the height difference between them. 

“Hello, Sunset,” she eventually said.

“Hi, Twilight,” Sunset replied, tonelessly. “What do you want?”

“To clear the air between us,” Twilight replied. “And... maybe start over? I mean, I don’t need to tell you that we got on the wrong hoof. And as two of the only three Equestrian ponies on this planet, I don’t think it does us much good to stay separated like this. And besides which... I need your help.”

Sunset blinked a few times. “My... help,” she repeated. “My. Help. Me. Sunset Shimmer, the mare who came within a hair’s breadth of killing you last night, right in front of about fifty eyewitnesses, over a stupid crown that wasn’t even mine to begin with, and you want my help?!”

Twilight nodded rapidly. “Please?”

Sunset sighed heavily. “Yeah, okay, sure. Whatever.” She led Twilight up to her loft and flopped down on the bed, then said, “What do you need my help with?”

“Well, for starters...” Twilight tapped her fingers together nervously. “I guess Gem told you that Emerald and I are stuck here for the foreseeable future?”

Sunset nodded. “At least ‘til the portal opens again. You want to know how to survive?”

“That, and something else...” Twilight leaned forward slightly. “I want to know if you brought anything with you from Equestria that we might be able to use to establish a communications link between here and there. I don’t want ponies to think that I’m dead.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Uh... you’re a princess back home. Princesses are immortal. You can’t die, you’re just going to stay alive until the sun explodes or something.”

Twilight shook her head. “Immortality is a state that is only reached when a princess becomes a ruler,” she said. “I was only one for a week or so before I came here. For all I know, they could be having my funeral right now, and I’d have no way of telling everypony I’m actually alive! I have to get in touch with the other princesses, at the very least!”

Sunset raised her hands. “Okay, okay! Hold your hippogriffs, Sparkle, let me see...” 

She turned around, considering the bookshelves next to her bed, and grabbed a thick brown book with her cutie mark on it. “When I was Princess Celestia's student back in Equestria, she gave me this,” she said, showing Twilight the book. “Even after I abandoned my studies, I held onto it. Deep down, I guess I knew I was making a big mistake, and I wanted to still have a way to reach out to her. Maybe it still works.”

Twilight gasped. “I know what this is, it’s a communication journal! I used one to send messages to her until Spike was old enough to send mail with his fire breath!”

Sunset blinked a few times. “Okay, hang on. Fire breath? Celestia gave you a pet dragon when you became her student?”

Twilight shook her head rapidly. “No, no. Spike was the final for my entrance exam into CSGU, I was supposed to just hatch him, but then the Sonic Rainboom happened and I overshot it and cast an enlargement charm on him instead. Also, I turned my parents into plants.”

Sunset blinked a few more times. “Buck, filly. You sure do know how to make a first impression...” She grabbed a ballpoint pen. “Okay. How good is your handwriting?”

Twilight shrugged. “Awful. Everything I write with these,” she wiggled her fingers, “comes out looking like chicken scratch.”

Sunset nodded. “Then we definitely need to work on your manual dexterity. Until then, I’ll write for you and you can dictate. What do you want to say?”

Twilight was quiet for a moment as she composed the letter in her head, then she began to speak:

> _“Dear Princess Celestia:_   
>  _I am pleased to report that I was able to recover my crown from Sunset Shimmer, who is also doing fine. She is showing the desire to repent for her actions, and I believe that with time and effort, she can become an upstanding member of Equestrian society. I will have plenty of opportunity to monitor her progress because, as I’m sure you’re aware, Emerald and I were too late in recovering the crown to return home safely. I anticipate returning home in the next thirty moons, unless it is possible to circumvent that lock. In the meantime, please inform my family and friends that I am alive and well. I miss them very much, and I will see them soon._   
>  _Your fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle.”_

Then, with the letter dictated, Twilight began to bawl. Sunset, unsure of how to react, pulled her into a hug.


	3. Funeral for a Friend

Word of Twilight Sparkle’s sacrifice for the benefit of Equestria spread like wildfire over the next nine days. All across the land, flags were flown at half-staff. Sports events were cancelled. Black armbands bearing Twilight’s cutie mark were distributed. Although the news reports and Crown officials stated repeatedly that reports of her death could not be confirmed for reasons of national security, the citizenry assumed that she really was dead after all, and reacted accordingly.

Equestrian state funeral traditions held that in the event of a prime minister’s death, (there was no plan for the death of a princess) a specially-chartered funeral train would travel from one end of Equestria to the other with a coffin resting inside, and the front-most car decorated with black bunting and a picture of the deceased. This tradition was carried out for Twilight Sparkle, though obviously the coffin remained empty. (No one seemed to mind.)

And while all of Equestria was in mourning, there was no town in all the land that was more distraught than Ponyville. Black banners hung from Town Hall and other public buildings. Ponies went about their business in absolute silence. In the days preceding the funeral, the only sound that could be heard was that of the Apple family gathering that year’s harvest. But most distressing of all, the library was closed, its windows dark. With Spike recalled to Canterlot, there was nopony around to look after the books. (Not that anypony wanted to go in, anyway.)

But saddest of all were the five mares whom Twilight had called her best friends. It seemed impossible that just a short time before, they had been celebrating her ascension to the highest level of Equestrian government, but now, they were all bereft of their dearest friend. While Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy continued to go about their day jobs, it was clear their hearts weren’t in it. (Except Rarity, who designed outfits for herself and the others to wear at the funeral, believing Twilight would want them to look their best.)

Then, finally, the day that Ponyville had been dreading arrived. The funeral train pulled into Ponyville Station, and the empty coffin carried to Town Square, where the funeral would be held. The plan had been to use Town Hall itself, but Twilight’s importance to the town meant that the entire square would be used instead. A stage had been set up, and the coffin was placed on top with the lid closed.

On top of the coffin were three items: an Equestrian flag, a large picture of Twilight smiling laid in an ornate golden frame, and a facsimile of the crown that had started the entire mess in the first place. In front of the coffin was row upon row of black cushions were set up for ponies to sit down on, with the front row being reserved for Twilight’s friends and family.

At the appointed time, seemingly every pony in Ponyville turned out for the funeral, seating themselves upon the cushions. Everypony wore the black cutie mark armbands around their forelegs, while Rarity had designed simple black mourning gowns (and for Spike, a matching suit) with small diamond stars that seemed to sparkle like their celestial namesakes in as they moved.

The sun sank, but was not replaced by the moon. For the first time in recorded history, sun and moon remained frozen in the position of civil twilight, and would remain so for the duration of the funeral.

Mayor Mare, her voice choked with unshed tears, rose to speak. “We... we are gathered...” She paused to gather her strength, and tried again: “We are gathered here to remember Twilight Sparkle... a princess of Equestria, a well-regarded librarian, and a dearly beloved friend. Throughout the time we knew her, Twilight touched each and every pony in town deeply, spreading the gift of knowledge as far as she could. Together with her friends, she saved all of Equestria many times over, beginning with the defeat of Nightmare Moon in this very place.”

Though she didn’t want to, Mayor Mare forced herself to continue. “She may be gone, but the lessons she passed on to each and every one of us will live on forever. The ponies of Ponyville, and Equestria as a whole, are the inheritors of her legacy. The best way to honor her is to be our true selves, no matter what. It is what she would want. Thank you.”

Mayor Mare climbed down off the stage, and one by one, the mourners passed by the coffin, leaving behind flowers in the colors of her mane and coat. When the last of the mourners had done so, Spike sent off his signal to the Sisters, and the sun finally finished setting. The moon rose, and an image of Twilight’s cutie mark arranged by Luna shone over the skies above Ponyville, her own tribute to her sister’s protege.

* * *

After the funeral came the wake. It was decided to hold the wake in the library, for sentimental reasons. After all, it had once been the site of Twilight’s first party in Ponyville. Rarity went in first to clean the building of dust, and when that was finished, Pinkie was in charge of decorations.

Pinkie, her mane and tail straight as could be, said nothing as she rolled a black party cannon into the library’s main room. She lit the fuse, and with a muted sound, the room was suddenly filled with black balloons, streamers, and confetti. Tables decorated with black tablecloths appeared, and there was food: all of Twilight’s favorite things from Sugarcube Corner.

Then the townsponies filed inside, all wearing identical sad expressions. Applejack cleared her throat and began to speak. “Uh… thanks for comin’, everypony. I know this ain’t easy for all of us, but… I don’t think Twi would want us to be sad.” She picked up an apple fritter. “So… how about we all talk about our favorite Twilight stories?”

“I think that sounds like a marvelous idea, Applejack,” Rarity agreed. “My personal favorite Twilight story simply has to be when I first met her, she came into Town Hall looking as though she were wearing an enormous blue cotton ball on her head! I dragged her to my boutique and made her over, of course.”

Fluttershy blushed. “I think my favorite story was when I took care of Princess Celestia’s phoenix.”

“And mine is when she introduced me to the Daring Do books!” Dash added, swooping around in mid-air like the pegasus adventure archaeologist. 

“I’ll always remember her first visit to the farm,” Applejack said, smiling fondly. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat that much food since!”

“I’ll always remember the time she tried to investigate my Pinkie Sense,” added Pinkie, speaking for the first time in several hours. Her mane had started to curl again.

“And mine…” Spike tapped his claws together, “I think is when she worked herself into a frenzy over that time travel spell.”

“I remember that!” Pinkie exclaimed, her mane getting even curlier. “We snuck into the Archives like ninjas and then Princess Celestia showed up and wished her a happy Tuesday!”

Spike nodded, sighing as he remembered that particular event. “I hope she’s happy, wherever she is…”

“I gotta feelin’ she’s lookin’ down on us, Spike,” Applejack replied. “Her and my folks’re probably gettin’ along just fine.”

Rarity nodded. “Besides which, so long as we always remember the lessons she taught us, it shall be as though she’s not really gone at all. She will live on forever, in our minds and hearts.”

“You said it, Rares,” Dash agreed, before stuffing her face with cake. That seemed to be the cue everypony else needed to begin eating, and sharing their own favorite memories of Twilight, and that’s exactly what they did.


	4. Seeing Double

On the other side of Canterlot, a lavender skinned teenage girl with purple eyes and dark blue hair streaked with purple and pink sat at a workbench in her laboratory, her glasses perched at the end of her nose. She wore a white lab coat, rectangular glasses, a light blue sweater, goggles, leggings with a circuit board pattern on them, socks with stars, and blue-green flats with buckles on them. Her gloved fingers flew across the keyboard as she entered in the latest data concerning the strange energy readings she’d been picking up in the vicinity of Canterlot High over the past few days. 

She didn’t know what they were, only that there had been a huge spike on the night of some fall dance, unconfirmed eyewitness sightings of a raging she-demon, and a corresponding rainbow that seemed almost like a physical object, rather than the result of the sun’s light being refracted. This new type of energy wasn’t something Twilight understood, but as a woman of science, that meant she had an opportunity to break new ground and explore uncharted territory.

As she entered the last few numbers into her spreadsheet, she rolled back her chair and stood up, stretching. “Emerald, I think it’s time we stopped simply taking readings and started gathering evidence of our own!”

The yellow-skinned girl looked over from her corner. “What do you mean by that, Sparks?”

“Well, allegedly, two of the six people involved at the events of the fall dance looked just like us,” Twilight explained. “If that’s true, not only would they have to be from an alternate dimension, they may not even be the same species as us! Eyewitness reports said they saw five of the attendees metamorphose into equine lifeforms with humanoid traits, and I think they may be the reason why!”

“So, what’s the plan?” Emerald asked. “Are you just gonna walk right up to one of them and go, ‘Hi there, I’m Twilight Sparkle! Can I have some strands of your hair so I can find out if you’re really from another world?’”

Twilight scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, of course not. I have to handle this delicately, or else I won’t be able to make any progress! I’m going to ask politely if they’d like to help us!”

“And just how are you going to do that?” Emerald asked. “We don’t even know where they live!”

“I have a contingency plan!” Twilight said, “We simply go to a place they are likely to frequent, being teenage girls, and wait for them to show up!”

“That sounds a little creepy, but I suppose it works,” Emerald reasoned. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it. I’m hungry anyway.” She placed her hand on the print reader by the door (she was the only other person besides Twilight who was allowed inside the lab) and stepped out, her girlfriend following along beside her.

They trooped inside Twilight’s house, where Twilight changed into more casual clothes: a pale blue shirt with stripes, a pink bow tie, a purple skirt with pockets, blue socks, and dark blue shoes with pink laces and highlights. Once that was done, they headed out toward the uptown part of Canterlot, taking the city bus as usual.

“Have I ever told you how much I love that skirt on you?” Emerald asked over the bus engine and the babble of people talking.

Twilight blushed, her cheeks turning a slightly darker shade of lavender. “Only every time I wear it, Emmy. I know you like my legs.”

“It’s because you have the prettiest legs of any girl in town,” Emerald replied, kissing Twilight’s cheek. “But honestly, the rest of you is pretty hot too, Ms. Brains and Beauty.”

Twilight blushed deeper. “Oh stop it!” she said, not really meaning it at all. “You look great too, you know!”

Emerald chuckled, she was wearing a denim jacket with an old band t-shirt, jeans, and blue high tops. “The sexy scientist and the rough-and-tumble rocker girl. We make quite a pair, don’t we?”

“We certainly do,” Twilight agreed, kissing Emerald deeply. Then an automated voice announced that the next stop would be Sugarcube Corner, (which was the name of a street and a bakery frequented by Canterlot High students for over 30 years) and she jumped, quickly pulling on the string to request a stop.

The bus did indeed stop, and soon Emerald and Twilight climbed off it, walking into the bakery itself. It was a large room with several round tables scattered around, with cushioned chairs and even a couch along one wall, but the most important feature was the counter, where there was an assortment of baked items in a glass case.

A woman with bright blue skin and red hair stood behind the counter, and smiled warmly at the two as they stepped inside. “Can I getcha the usual, Ms. Sparkle?” she asked. “And by the way, I like your new glasses!”

Twilight blinked. How did this person know who she was when she’d never been here before? “Uh… sure! Why not? And Emerald will have her usual too!” She held up her phone, using the wallet app to pay for their snacks.

“Alrighty!” Mrs. Cake replied. “You go relax, and I’ll call you when it’s ready!”

“How can I have a usual when I’ve never been here before?” Emerald whispered as they went to sit down at a table. 

“It’s highly likely our counterparts are regular customers,” Twilight whispered back, “And the barista simply thinks we’re them.”

“Will we get in trouble when she realizes we aren’t?” Emerald asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think so, we’re not committing fraud or anything by being here. She may not even notice much of a difference.”

As she spoke, Mrs. Cake placed two white paper cups on the counter followed by two paper bags. “One large peppermint hot chocolate with extra oats and a vanilla scone, and one large caramel macchiato with a glazed donut!” she called out.

“Thanks!” Emerald said, hopping up to get the snacks. She placed Twilight’s drink in front of her, chuckling. “That other you has got to be an alien horse. Who puts oats on their hot chocolate?”

“She does, apparently,” Twilight said, prying the lid off the cup to find that there were indeed oats mixed in with the chunks of peppermint that decorated the splotch of whipped cream. She tried to pick them out, but the heat of the drink and the fact that she got cream on her fingers made her decide just to try and ignore them, so she put the lid back on.

* * *

“So girls, what exactly do you two intend to do while you’re here?” Gem asked the Equestrian Twilight and Emerald. They, Raven, and Sunset were walking through the empty halls of CHS, chatting. It was the end of the day, and everyone was ready to spend some time relaxing after 7 hours of learning. “Other than school, I mean. If you’re going to be here for five years, it might not be a bad idea to find a job of some kind so you can support yourselves.”

“You say that, but it’s not like we have any paperwork in this world,” Emerald pointed out. “I mean, I guess we could pose as our human counterparts if they exist, but that might start to get hairy if we try to get jobs at the same time.”

“Besides which,” Twilight added, “We’d still like to return home sooner than five years. I’d hate to return to Equestria and find it destroyed or taken over.”

Gem nodded in understanding. “How about you, Sunset? Will you go back to Equestria too?”

Sunset shrugged. “I really don’t know… on the one hoof, it would be nice to make amends with Celestia after all this time, but on the other hoof, this world has been my home for a long time now, and I don’t think there’s anything left for me in Equestria anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “You could always resume your studies with Celestia if you wanted to, I’m sure she’d love to have you back.”

Sunset shook her head. “Twilight, believe me when I tell you that you surpassed everything I ever managed to do. You earned those wings. I don’t want the responsibilities that come with them, not really.”

“Really?” Raven looked surprised. “We must’ve hit you with that rainbow harder than we thought.”

Sunset chuckled. “You kinda did… it inspired me to write a song, in fact.” Then, suddenly, music began to play as the ex-unicorn started to sing:

> _Power_  
>  _Was all I desired (I desired, all I desired)_  
>  _But all that grew inside me_  
>  _Was the darkness I acquired_
> 
> _When I began to fall_  
>  _And I lost the path ahead_  
>  _That's when your friendship found me_  
>  _And it lifted me instead_
> 
> _Like a phoenix burning bright_  
>  _In the sky_  
>  _I'll show there's another side to me_  
>  _You can't deny_
> 
> _I may not know what the future holds_  
>  _But hear me when I say_  
>  _That my past does not define me_  
>  _'Cause my past is not today_
> 
> _Ambition_  
>  _Is what I believed_  
>  _Would be the only way_  
>  _To set me free_
> 
> _But when it disappeared_  
>  _And I found myself alone_  
>  _That's when you came and got me_  
>  _And it felt like I was home_
> 
> _Like a phoenix burning bright_  
>  _In the sky_  
>  _I'll show there's another side to me_  
>  _You can't deny_
> 
> _I may not know what the future holds_  
>  _But hear me when I say_  
>  _That my past does not define me_  
>  _'Cause my past is not today_

As Sunset sang, her four companions watched in awe as she began to transform, gaining pony ears and a tail to match her mane, but nothing else beyond that. 

Twilight beamed, clapping her hands excitedly. “Sunset, that was amazing! You just ponied up!”

“I guess I did,” Sunset said, feeling her ears. “I wonder why I didn’t fully change though, like you girls did after that song in the cafeteria.”

“Probably because the closure of the portal sealed this world from access to Equestria’s magic field,” Twilight theorized. “Whenever magic is used on this side with the portal open, most of the power used came from Equestria’s end of the portal, but now that it’s closed, we only have trace amounts of magic to work with, such as what’s left of my crown’s power or Sunset’s journal.”

“Would you be able to build a device that would let you return home?” Gem asked.

“Probably,” Sunset answered. “Very simply, a device like that would need to use a magical artifact to act as a battery to draw power from, alongside casting gems enchanted with a portal-opening spell. Those gems are commonplace in Equestria, and they contain magically conductive properties that stones in this world don’t have. But with how small our magical supply is here, it could take years just to put us in a position where such a device was feasible.”

“Then how do you get enough magic?” Raven asked.

“That’s the problem we keep running into,” said Emerald. “It’s a vicious circle. None of us have enough magic to work with even if we combine our powers, and the only place we can get more is closed off. If this is gonna work, any extra magic we find has to come from here.”

“Which presents its own problems,” Twilight added. “Because if we try to get more magic from here somehow, we risk transforming humans into ponies permanently. And if we do that…” She paled. “The consequences are unthinkable.”

“It certainly sounds like there are no easy answers,” Gem admitted.

“There aren’t,” Emerald agreed. “One way or the other, I think we’re bucked.” She sighed. “Anypony want to get something to eat? I’m starved.”

“I think I could eat,” Sunset said. “Where will we go?”

“Sugarcube Corner?” Raven volunteered.

“I think that sounds great!” Twilight beamed. “Let’s go, girls!” And so they hurried out through the front doors of Canterlot High, headed down a few blocks toward the bakery in question.

* * *

Emerald, that is the native version of her, waited patiently for Twilight to come back from the bathroom, keeping herself occupied by reading a book on her phone about a boy who attends a school for monsters. They’d finished their snacks by this point, and so the table was clear again, but after waiting for an hour and a half, she’d started to think that their entirely theoretical pony counterparts would never show up.

But then the doors of the cafe swung open, and in walked five teenage girls, three of whom Emerald didn’t recognize, and two of whom she did: one looked just like Twilight, except her hair was straight instead of pulled back into a bun and she had no glasses, while the other one looked just like Emerald, except that she was wearing a simple black top with short sleeves and capris instead of a denim jacket.

Before any of the five could notice her, Emerald sprang up and dashed for the bathroom, trying to hide her face so none of the new arrivals would notice her. She barged into the bathroom, surprising Twilight, who was at the sink washing her hands.

“Sparks!” Emerald gasped. “Our other selves… they just showed up!”

Twilight beamed. “That’s wonderful news, Emmy! Go say hello, I’ll be with you in a sec!” She went back to washing her hands, and Emerald quickly returned to the main dining space.

By this time, Sunset and the Equestrian Emerald and Twilight were sitting on the green couch that rested along one wall, right next to the table where their human counterparts had been sitting. The human Emerald approached them from one side and sat down in her chair again, turning to face them. 

“So… uh… hi,” said Human Emerald, smiling a little. “I’m Emerald Wave.”

Her Equestrian counterpart stared in shock, finally noticing her for the first time. “What the buck,” she swore, “do you think you’re doing here?!”

“Actually, we were waiting for you,” said Human Twilight, joining her girlfriend at the table. “We need your help with something.”

“Help?” asked Pony Twilight, tilting her head in a puzzled sort of way. “What kind of help?”

“Hang on a sec, Sparks,” Pony Emerald interrupted. “How do you two even know we’re here?! You don’t go to Canterlot High, if you did we would’ve seen you!”

“You’re not doing a very good job of hiding yourselves,” Human Twilight said, frowning slightly. “The fall formal incident was front page news in The Canterlot Times, and I’ve been tracking the bizarre energy emissions coming from your school for the last few weeks!”

“What’s going on?” Gem asked, approaching them all with a drink carrier in her arms. Then she saw what was going on and almost dropped it, but Pony Twilight’s hands started to glow magenta, and she used her telekinesis to catch the carrier and place it gently on the table before anything spilled.

Pony Emerald gasped. “Sparks… you just used magic…”

“And that’s not all,” Sunset pointed out. “Look, she’s getting pony ears!” And indeed, Pony Twilight’s ears were changing into equine ones even as they watched. (A similar shift was happening to Pony Emerald too, making it easier for everyone to tell which girl belonged to which species.)

“I’m a little confused,” said Raven, sitting backwards on a nearby chair, and completely ignoring the fact that the cafe had gotten increasingly quiet. “How can there be two Twilights and two Emeralds here?”

“Because one of us,” Human Emerald said, “is human and the other one is some kind of magic horse!”

“Pony,” Pony Twilight corrected. “I’m a pony from Equestria, and I’m stuck here with my marefriend while we wait for the portal that brought us here to open again.”

Human Twilight’s eyes were wide. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m literally sitting across from my inter-dimensional counterpart, I’d say you were scientifically impossible!” She reached out to touch Pony Twilight’s hand, but there was a loud crackling sound, and Pony Twilight’s transformation advanced a little further: she had gained a tail.

Sunset glanced around, the rest of the patrons were looking right at them. “Uh, girls? Maybe we should go somewhere less public?”

“Quite right, Sunset,” said Gem. “Come, everyone! Let’s go to my house!” There was a brief pause as the five Wondercolts grabbed their drinks from the carrier, then all seven of them trooped together out of the cafe and down the street, following Gem toward her manor.

* * *

“So, let me see if I have this right,” Human Emerald said, looking across Gem’s coffee table at the girl who looked just like her, ignoring the pony ears and tail she had. “You two are magic ponies who came to our world to find a magic crown, and then you got trapped here with no chance of a rescue from your home because everyone thinks you’re dead, so you’re trying to come up with a way to get home from our side of the portal, but you have to do it right because if you screw it up, we’ll become magic ponies too?”

Pony Emerald nodded. “Yup, that’s the size of it. And if I understand you correctly, your Twilight figured out we were here and wants to study our magic so she can discover a brand new branch of scientific knowledge?”

“Exactly!” Human Twilight said, pushing on the bridge of her glasses with her finger. “It’s a good thing we met, because now it seems plain that we’ll each get what we want!”

“On one condition,” said Pony Twilight, raising her finger. “You are not allowed to try and use our magic for your own whims!”

“Why not?” Human Twilight asked. “From what you’ve told me, Equestrian magic could solve so many of humanity’s problems!”

“Because you aren’t ready for it!” Sunset exclaimed. “I’ve studied humans for a long time, there are plenty of people out there who would kill to have the kinds of abilities we ponies possess! And besides, the more magic there is in a given place, the greater the chances are you’ll all start to change, and we don’t need that either!”

“Fair enough,” Human Twilight conceded. “I give you my word as a scientist, I will not try to trick you.”

Pony Twilight smiled. “I know you won’t. You’re me, after all!” She stood up. “Shall we get going?”

“Yes, I think so,” Human Twilight said. “Does anyone have a car? I don’t think we should take the bus, given these two are already starting to sprout fur on top of everything else.”

“I can drive us all,” Gem said with a smile. “Let us be off, ladies!” And without further ado, she led them to her car, and followed Human Twilight’s directions across town and to the shed where her lab was.

* * *

When the seven of them trooped through the gate that led to Twilight’s backyard, Human Twilight stopped before placing her hand on the scanner that would read her handprint and unlock the door. “Pony me,” she began, “Would you like to open the door?”

“I guess I could try,” Pony Twilight said, “though there isn’t any guarantee it will work.” 

She placed her hand on the scanner anyway, or rather her fist, since she and Pony Emerald tended to hold their arms up with their wrists bent, as if they were hooves, but Human Twilight helped her to spread her fingers out normally. The scanner hummed as it read the print, then flashed green, and there was a clicking noise as the lab door unlatched itself.

“Amazing… we really are identical!” Human Twilight said in awe, leading the group into her lab. It was practically bursting with technology, with computer screens on every wall, a long work table with assorted devices and objects like microscopes, Bunsen burners, and metric scales on it, and more besides.

As they all looked around, Human Twilight held up a device that looked a bit like a a box with two antenna sticking out of the top. “This is my spectrum analyzer,” she explained. “I built it myself to measure what I now know to be magical energy.” She held the box closer to Pony Twilight, and it clicked rapidly and loudly, not unlike a Geiger counter. The arrow on the front seemed to flit between green and red.

“The more magical energy my counterpart takes in,” Human Twilight continued, “The louder the clicking gets!”

“And the more I change!” Pony Twilight exclaimed, starting to pant. Purple fur now covered her entire body, and she looked quite uncomfortable in the clothes she was still wearing. “Do you… mind… if I… take this off?” she asked, gesturing to her top.

“Not at all,” Human Twilight said, pointing to a door with an atom symbol on it. “That’s my bathroom, you can change in there.”

“Thank you!” Pony Twilight and Emerald quickly dove into the bathroom, returning after a few minutes wearing little more than their bras and panties.

“I have a question!” said Raven, raising her hand. “How come we haven’t changed yet? I mean, we’ve been with these two for the last couple hours, and we’re still human, even Sunset!”

“I think it might be because Emerald and I are with our counterparts,” Pony Twilight explained. “Since we are two separate incarnations of the same being, the similar genetic material between us is causing us to change. Eventually our transformation will complete, and after that… well, I can’t be sure. Either they’ll start changing too, or you all will.”

“Which means we don’t have a lot of time,” finished Human Twilight. “Let me see… you said you wanted to build a device that could activate the portal manually, right?”

Sunset nodded. “We’ll need to build something that can hold all the magic currently in their bodies, since I imagine that if you went into another room for even just half an hour, the changes would start to reverse themselves. How quickly can you build something like that?”

Human Twilight grinned. “I built my tracking device in two hours, I can build a storage device in no time, I already have everything I need.” She went to her work table and got to it, quickly disassembling the tracking device and placing its internals into a new device that was circular, and about the size of a makeup compact.

By the time she finished, Pony Emerald and Twilight had been completely transformed into their bipedal pony forms. Human Twilight walked over and held up the containment unit. “When I open this, the magic inside of you will be drained into this,” she said. “Are you sure you’re ready? Chances are it’s going to hurt a lot.”

Pony Twilight nodded, and nuzzled her other self on the cheek. This time there was no spark. “I’m ready.”

“Alright… here goes.” Human Twilight opened the containment unit, and it activated immediately. Magenta mist flew from Pony Twilight and into the containment unit, reversing the transformation in the process. When it was over, Human Twilight clicked the unit shut, and her pony self was now entirely human again.

“Well, it definitely worked,” said Human Emerald, peering at the device. “But what now?”

“Now,” Sunset said, helping Twilight to stand, “We build the portal opening device, but we’ll need Equestrian gems to hold the spells we’ll have to cast in place.” She looked to Pony Emerald. “Will you be able to cast the spells?”

“Probably,” Emerald said, shrugging. “I’m not exactly an archmage, but I think I can do it.”

Sunset nodded. “Good. SciTwi, keep that containment device locked up tight, the last thing we need is for any humans to get a hold of raw Equestrian magic.”

“Will do,” Human Twilight said, before pausing. “Wait. SciTwi? Excuse me?”

“It’s a nickname, so we can tell you apart,” Gem explained patiently. “Sunset, how long will it take for you to rig up what you require?”

“A while,” Sunset admitted, “But I brought all the books I’ll need with me from Equestria when I left the first time, so I should have a prototype ready to go in a day or two.”

Gem nodded. “Then that will have to do. Good luck. Is there anything else we need to discuss?” As everyone shook their heads, she grinned. “Splendid! What do you girls say to a movie night?”

“I’m down for that,” both Emeralds said in unison.

“Me too,” added both Twilights.

“Same here,” said Raven.

“Likewise,” threw in Sunset.

And so, SciTwi led the group back out of her lab and back toward Gem’s car, ready for a night of cinematic entertainment with some unorthodox companions.


	5. The Test Run

It took Sunset a few weeks to build a portal-opening device. First she had to create a blueprint of what the final device would look like, then find materials she could use to build it with. What she eventually decided upon was a wooden cradle to hold the magical object they’d be using in place, a matching wooden frame with casting crystals to conduct power, and wires connected to the portal itself. When the object was placed in the cradle, the magic inside would activate the crystals, which would then run magical energy through the wires and to the portal, opening it. But it would have to be done carefully, open just long enough to send a small object through.

Sunset worked on her device after school in Canterlot High’s wood shop, citing special dispensation from Principal Celestia. The plan was to use the book for the purposes of the test, since it was unlikely to overload like the crown had done on the night of the formal.

Before long, Sunset’s portal device was ready for testing, and she, Gem, Raven, and both versions of Twilight and Emerald assembled at the portal to set things up. The sky was a stormy grey, and though it was the middle of the afternoon, the dark clouds made it seem later than it really was. A high wind was blowing, making everyone’s hair blow about in the breeze.

“Should we really be out here?!” Human Emerald shouted over the wind and occasional rumbles of thunder. “Looks like we’ve got one hell of a storm coming!”

“We shouldn’t be too long!” Sunset shouted back. “The portal will be active for a few seconds at most, just enough time for Princess Twilight to send that Daring Do book through before taking it back with her telekinesis!”

“If you say so!” Raven yelled, looking doubtfully up at the churning sky. “Let’s hurry, if it starts turning green we’ll need to duck and cover!”

Sunset nodded and quickly directed the two Twilights to assemble the portal opener according to her blueprints, and once that was done, took out her journal. “Okay! I’m going to put the journal into the cradle! Princess Twilight, are you ready?”

“Ready!” Pony Twilight cried, giving Sunset a thumbs up.

Sunset placed her journal into the cradle, and as she did so, the sun emblem on the front cover began to glow bright pink. One by one, the casting crystals were activated and pink lightning began to flash and spark, traveling along the electrical wires toward the portal. The stone concealing it began to ripple.

Pony Twilight picked up the Daring Do book, ready to send it through, but before she could do so a stray bolt of lightning flashed out of the clouds and struck the portal device. White and pink lightning flashed and crackled on the wires as the device overloaded, and a second flash of lightning hit the portal directly. The magical lightning may have been powerful, but natural lightning was even stronger, and for a precious second or so, it had access to an entire dimension’s worth of magical power.

Sunset didn’t even have time to scream as the bolt hit. The portal exploded, throwing all seven girls back and creating an enormous crater. The device, of course, was destroyed entirely, sending shards of wood flying in all directions. Sunset’s journal was destroyed too, turned to little more than ashes.

But the most dramatic effect of all came from the portal itself. Raw magic traveled through Canterlot in a pink shockwave, starting on the front lawn of Canterlot High and accelerating from there. As the wave passed, those who were caught in it found themselves transformed into Equestrian ponies, albeit ones who walked on two legs rather than four.

* * *

As the dust cleared, it began to rain. Gemini sat up, blinking and looking around. She was now a grey-furred unicorn mare with a brown mane and tail and green eyes. While her clothes were largely the same as ever, her jeans now had a hole in the back for her tail, and her shoes were nowhere to be seen, since heels didn’t really work with pony hooves.

Gem groaned, rubbing her forehead with her hand. “Oh goodness… did somepony get the number for that cart? My head is splitting…”

“Mine too,” said Raven, sitting up too. “What happened?”

“There was a lightning strike,” Sunset said. “It hit the portal, and it exploded… And we changed.”

“Oh buck!” swore Pony Emerald. “Sparks, that’s exactly what Princess Luna would happen if the portal was damaged, wasn’t it?”

“Kind of,” Princess Twilight replied. “There wasn’t a magical feedback loop, only an overload, but the end result is the same: a complete species transformation for all of us.”

“Do you think the rest of town has been affected too?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe if we took a look around, we could find out!” the former human Twilight added.

“We won’t have to look very far,” Raven said, pointing up. “Look!” Sure enough, a team of newly transformed pegasus ponies were starting to corral the storm and lessen its intensity into a light shower, flying to and fro in the skies above their heads as though they’d done it all their lives.

“No way…” Human Emerald whispered. “That’s amazing…”

“And look at the school signage!” Gem exclaimed, pointing too. “Nothing is in English anymore, it’s a different language!” They could see a sign announcing tryouts for winter sports, but the characters were shaped very differently, like English letters but warped and distorted.

“It’s Equestrian,” Sunset whispered. “The signs are written in Equestrian… there are weather pegasi clearing the clouds…” She glanced to Princess Twilight. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

The princess nodded. “Within hours, every human on Earth will be transformed into the same species as their counterparts in Equestria… primarily ponies. Their memories will change too, they won’t remember their past lives as humans.” She looked to Gem. “Do you remember being human?”

Gem had to stop and think, casting her mind back to just the previous day. “I… I… I…” she whispered. “I can’t remember…” Sniffling now, her horn began to glow as she used her magic to bring over her phone, and tapped to the photo library. She scrolled through the photos and found one thing they all had in common: they showed her as she was now, a unicorn.

“How come she can use magic already?” Pony Emerald asked. “Shouldn’t she have about the same amount of power as a foal in magic kindergarten?”

Sunset shook her head. “She’s Orion’s counterpart here, remember? So she has his magical ability, and from what Princess Twilight has told me, he’s quite a good spell caster himself. It’s the same reason why those weather ponies already know how to fly and manipulate clouds, their Equestrian counterparts do that already.”

“Will it be like that for everypony?” Human Twilight asked.

“Eventually,” Pony Twilight answered. “The non-physical alterations, such as the changing of your clothes and the shifting of your memories, decrease the farther you are from the epicenter, but as time passes and the magic field here begins to equalize, those things will eventually match those who were closer to the portal.”

Human Emerald raised her hand. “I’m gonna need an example.”

With the skies now clear and sunny, Pony Twilight took off her shirt and held it up, allowing everypony to see the slits in the back for her pegasus wings. “Let’s say there is a pegasus who lives on the same street as Canterlot High. Her shirts would have slits in the back for her wings, so she can fly unimpeded, but a pegasus who lives closer to Crystal Prep would not only have no such slits, she would have no idea how to fly in the first place, at least for a little while. I estimate that in a few days, all of Canterlot’s pegasi will have clothes like these and the ability to fly, just like their Equestrian counterparts.”

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess it makes sense,” Human Emerald said. “Can we go get some food? I don’t know why, but I could really go for a hayburger with large horseshoe fries right now. And a chocolate shake.”

“Of course we can,” Sunset said, helping everypony to their hooves. “As for your cravings, that just means you have a fully Equestrian digestive system, so you’ll need to eat things like hay, grass, and certain varieties of flowers to be healthy. Where’s the nearest burger place?”

“Burger Princess is alright, but they don’t have milkshakes,” Human Emerald said. “Sweet Snax does though, but that’s closer to the mall.”

“Well, let’s go!” Pony Twilight said, beaming enthusiastically. “And hope they have food that we can eat!” And with that, they trooped back toward the student parking lot, where Gem and Raven’s cars were waiting for them.

* * *

The drive from one part of Canterlot to the other allowed the seven mares to better see how magic had affected the transformed humans and their city. The farther away from CHS they got, the less likely they were to see pegasus ponies fly, or unicorns use their magic. Instead, they acted more or less like regular humans rather than ponies.

“How come nopony is freaking out?” Raven asked. “I remember being pretty surprised when I last sprouted hooves, fur, and a muzzle.”

“A transformation of this kind has a calming spell included as part of its effects,” Pony Twilight explained. “When we ponied up in the cafeteria, the magic to do so came mostly from inside us, rather than externally like it did today. The calming spell is there to keep the newly transformed ponies from panicking and engaging in their base instincts.”

“Meaning a stampede,” Sunset explained. “We’re a prey species just like terrestrial horses, so we spook easily.”

“That Starswirl sure thought of everything,” Pony Emerald observed, as the two cars pulled into a pair of parking spaces outside the Sweet Snax Cafe. They all got out and trotted inside to find a room filled mostly with light blue booths with tables between each cushioned bench, while waitresses of all three pony races zoomed along on hoof-shaped rollerskates.

“Hey there, and welcome to the Sweet Snax Cafe!” said a chipper voice, as the pinkest earth pony any of the seven mares had ever seen bounced into view. She had bright blue eyes and a beaming smile on her face, with a pink coat and a pink mane and tail that looked exactly like cotton candy. “I’m Pinkie Pie and I’ll be takin’ care of you today!” 

Expertly, Pinkie spun on her skates and led them to a booth, which they all squeezed into surprisingly easily. Pinkie then withdrew several menus and handed one to each pony. “What can I getcha?”

Human Emerald flipped through the menu, finding pony-friendly options were already printed there toward the front, while human friendly options were printed toward the back... at least at first. But even as they watched, the human dishes faded away like they had never been there to begin with.

One by one, the seven mares placed their orders: Pony Emerald got a original double and cheese hayburger, Human Emerald asked for a triple hayburger, Human Twilight got a portobello and swiss burger, while her alicorn counterpart got a Royale. Gem got a single, Raven got a Frisco melt, and Sunset ordered a Jalapeño crunch, all with various milkshakes and, of course, horseshoe shaped french fries.

“Hey Sparks, I thought I saw something weird on the menu as we were ordering,” Human Emerald said to her unicorn partner. “There was a human section of the menu, but it went away.”

“That might be because of me,” Princess Twilight said, blushing faintly. “Alicorns are the strongest magic users known to ponykind, and since this is an enclosed space, that speeds up the mental and related shifts by a factor of ten.” She gestured around, and sure enough, the unicorns in the restaurant were using their horns to lift their meals rather than their hands, and whenever a pegasus departed, they would take off from the ground once they were outside.

“How many alicorns are there?” Gem asked.

“Only four,” answered Princess Twilight. “On my own, I wouldn’t be enough to speed up the transformation of the city, but since I assume that the Celestia, Luna, and Cadance of this world will be alicorns too, that much magical power in a relatively small city could mean that Canterlot completes its changes much faster than the rest of the metropolitan area.”

“Right. Gotcha.” Raven shrugged, munching on her burger and happily swishing her tail. “Oh yeah, this is exactly what I needed right now...”

“It really is very tasty,” Gem observed. “I had no idea Equestrian cooking was so similar to what humans made!”

“It is fascinating,” Sunset observed. “But I’ve been wondering something for a while.” She looked to her two fellow Equestrians. “What are you two going to do now, with the connection between our worlds severed?”

“I’m honestly not sure,” Princess Twilight admitted. “I would like to build a second portal, but I won’t be able to do that until this world has finished changing. At least you have books containing Starswirl’s original research notes, I’ll be able to have something to work off of.”

“Will you be staying in Canterlot?” Gem asked.

Princess Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think that’d be wise, since there are two of us in the city already. I don’t think this world has a Ponyville equivalent, so we might go to Manehattan and pass ourselves as our local selves’ twin sisters and live there temporarily while I build the portal. As long as my crown is with me, we’ll be able to link it to our Equestria.”

Gem nodded in understanding. “Well, it’s been a tremendous pleasure knowing you, Princess Twilight. I hope you’re able to return to Equestria safely.”

The Princess smiled. “Now that our two worlds will soon be more or less identical, I’m positive we’ll succeed.” Then she dove into her burger, eating like she’d been raised in a barn.


	6. A New Equestria

Time went by. As the minds and memories of Earth’s ponies gradually changed to match those of their four-legged counterparts, society changed too. Weather factories sprung up in every city and town to control the weather, educational systems added classes for each type of pony so they could better get a grip on their respective magical abilities, and the world in general became a more peaceful place as the violence and ambition of humans gave way to peaceful equine passivity. 

The air became cleaner as cars ran on magic rather than fossil fuels. The ice caps began to heal as pegasus ponies from every country on Earth banded together to restore what ice had been lost. Human technology combined with pony magic meant that not only could they send a mare to Mars, they could build a base on the moon, and so they did. Within a year, pony kind had changed the face of Earth forever, forming what amount to a second Equestria, this one with its eyes on the final frontier.

Some things, however, remained largely the same. The sun and the moon rose and set on their own, and Celestia, Luna, and Cadance remained principals of their respective schools, despite their alicorn states. Unlike their royal counterparts, they were no different from any other pony, and that was fine by them. Gemini, Raven, Sunset, and the local Emerald and Twilight graduated and either moved on to college, or began to pursue careers, scattering themselves to different corners of the globe.

In a Manehattan apartment, Twilight Sparkle had every book Sunset owned on Starswirl’s portals spread out in front of her, a notebook and quill held in her magic as she took notes. Now that a year had passed since that fateful stormy afternoon, she would be able to build a second portal that could, if it worked right, allow her to return home. 

“Sparks? It’s time for dinner,” said a voice, as Emerald trotted into the apartment, carrying bags from a hayburger restaurant in her arms and two paper soda cups in her magic.

Twilight looked up, surprised. “Dinner? But Emmy, it’s barely noon!”

Emerald coughed. “Have you looked out the window recently?” She gestured, placing their food down on the coffee table. Sure enough, the view through the window showed a nighttime view of Manehattan’s skyline.

Twilight blushed. “Okay, so I got really into my studies…”

“As you do pretty much every day,” Emerald said, helping Twilight to stand and embracing her. “Now, look, I want to get home just as badly as you do, but I think you need a break. You’ve been driving yourself nuts with this, throwing away blueprints as fast as you make them! When was the last time you put up your hooves and just relaxed?”

“Probably not since that last sleepover we had at Gem’s house, the night before we left,” Twilight admitted, unpacking their food bags and starting to eat her own meal.

Emerald nodded. “And that was months and months ago, Sparks. Which is why I think that the two of us need to have a weekend where we go out and enjoy ourselves!”

“What would we do?” Twilight asked.

“Well…” Emerald grinned. “I might have one idea.” She reached into a pocket of her jeans and withdrew two tickets with Raven’s picture on them. “Front row seats to Raven’s performance at Maredison Square Garden tomorrow night! What do you think?” (Raven had become a stage magician since graduating Canterlot High, with Gem serving as her assistant/partner in crime.)

Twilight beamed enthusiastically. “That sounds perfect! All the reviews of the show I’ve heard say that she’s the best earth pony magician they’ve ever seen! How did you get tickets?!”

“Gem sent them to me when the tour was announced,” Emerald explained. “Seems like she knew we might need them.”

“She always was a practical mare,” Twilight agreed. “Alright, that sounds a great way to spend the evening! But what about the rest of the day?!” She brought over her notebook to begin composing a schedule.

Emerald took it in her own magic and teleported it away. “How about some unstructured relaxation time with the other love in your life?” she asked, smirking.

Twilight laughed. “Alright, alright! Unstructured time with my books as it is!” She stuck her tongue out and booped Emerald’s muzzle with her fingertip. “I mean you, silly filly.”

Emerald floated over one of the pillows from their room and said, “Yeah, and? Still gonna get ya, Sparkle!” Then before Twilight could react, she flung it into her marefriend’s face!

Twilight recovered quickly and grabbed a larger pillow. “I suppose you realize this means war… after we finish eating?”

Emerald nodded. “Can’t have a fight to the feathery death on an empty stomach!” She dove into her meal, as though Twilight’s table manners had rubbed off on her.

* * *

The next evening, the two of them went to Maredison Square Garden to watch Raven perform. Ponies of all races and ages clapped and cheered and stamped their hooves in applause as Raven performed spectacular feats with the help of her wife and lovely assistant, Gemini. These were more than mere card tricks or sleight-of-hoof gags, but truly death-defying stunts that required some unicorn magic to help pull off, and would therefore have been impossible to perform had she still been human.

After the show, the four friends met up not at one of Manehattan’s several five-star restaurants, but a Burger Princess located next to Raven’s hotel. The earth pony was wearing her usual show outfit of a black vest with grey pinstripes and brass buttons paired with a white sleeveless undershirt, a white collar with a black bowtie, white cuffs, and fishnet stockings, while Gem wore a blue dress with puffy sleeves and matching feathers in her mane, also with fishnets.

Twilight beamed when she saw them enter the restaurant, and hugged them tight. “You two look fantastic!”

“Not so bad yourself, Sparkle,” Raven said with a grin, nuzzling the alicorn fondly. “Did you like the show?”

“Like it?!” Emerald cried, “Raven, that was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it in either world!”

“Raven truly is one of a kind,” Gem agreed, kissing the purple earth pony deeply, before turning back to the other two. “Shall we get dinner?”

“Let’s,” said Raven, stepping into the line in front of the ordering counter. In fairly quick succession they placed their orders: 4 cheese plant burgers with 4 medium hay fries and 4 medium Colt-a-Colas to drink. Once the food was ready, the tray was levitated over to a table, and the four mares sat down, with Gem and Raven on one side and Twilight and Emerald on the other.

“So, how has work on the portal been going?” Gem asked Twilight as they all began to eat.

“Slowly, admittedly,” Twilight said with a shrug. “But now that the thaumic levels here are identical to that of Equestria, we should have an easier time building it. The books Sunset gave me have been invaluable!”

Raven smiled. “Good to hear. Please tell me you’re going to come and visit sometimes, right?”

“Of course we will,” Emerald promised. “Once we get back, we’re going to try and make more portals between our worlds, and maybe even establish an embassy. After everything we’ve been through together, it’d be wrong to close the gateway permanently.”

“I’d love to see Equestria sometime,” Raven said, munching happily on her burger. “At least the only thing I’d have to get used to would be walking on four legs instead of two.”

“You will, I promise,” Twilight said, nodding. “As soon as the embassy opens, you and Gem and our local counterparts will be the first ones to go through!”

“I’m already looking forward to it,” Gem said with a smile, her tail swishing merrily.


	7. Get Back

It had taken another year of hard work, but at long last the brand new portal to Equestria was complete. Twilight had been able to establish a new link with the mirror in Equestria that had started all this by using her crown. All it would take to activate the casting crystals was a spark of magic from her horn, for the new Earth portal was now housed in a mirror as well, with the crystals built into its frame. It was also indestructible, so the link between the two places could never be severed.

“So… this is really it,” Sunset Shimmer said, looking at her reflection in the glass. Princess Twilight and Emerald returned to Canterlot, as the mirror would now hang in Sunset’s apartment until the embassy was built. “You’re really going home.”

“You could come with us, if you wanted,” Princess Twilight said, smiling gently.

Sunset shook her head. “This world isn’t so different from Equestria now, thanks to us. Just… tell Celestia that I’m sorry, and I love her, alright?”

Twilight nodded. “We will.” Then, she and Emerald hugged Sunset, Gem, Raven, and their counterparts as tightly as they could, before taking deep breaths.

“Ready to go, Sparks?” Emerald asked.

Twilight nodded. “I’m ready. Let’s go.” She lit her horn and fired a small beam of magic toward the mirror. The casting crystals activated at once, each one starting to glow with magical energy. The mirror glass began to ripple, but before she stepped through, Twilight turned to face her Earth friends. “This isn’t goodbye forever,” she said. “Just until next time.”

“Until next time, Princess,” said Gem, smiling. “Good luck.”

Then, holding each others’ hands, the lost princess and her consort stepped through the glass and into a colorful vortex.

* * *

In a storage room somewhere in Canterlot Castle was the original mirror portal. It had been moved there after Celestia had begun to accept that her student would, even if she was alive, would never be coming home. It had sat there gathering dust for many moons, but it still worked perfectly well, as the glass pane set in the frame rippled once more as Twilight and Emerald came through it. 

“Waaaagh!” Twilight exclaimed, falling forward onto her front legs for the first time in goodness knows how long. 

Emerald wasn’t quite as graceful, she ended up doing an accidental summersault and crashing into a cardboard box filled with knick-knacks. “Ow, buck! That figures, my first time home in Luna knows how long and I bang my head…” She groaned, getting cautiously to all four hooves. “Whoa… feels weird being a quadruped again…” She took a look around, coughing for all the dust in the air. “Where are we?”

“Looks like some kind of storage room,” Twilight said, her horn aglow to provide light. “Seems like nopony’s been here in moons!” She picked up the heavy cloth that had, until now, hidden the mirror from sight. “This wasn’t exactly the kind of welcoming committee I imagined…”

“Maybe everypony thinks you’re dead,” Emerald suggested, shrugging. “Do you see a door anywhere?”

“There!” Twilight pointed at a heavy door with a brass knob on one side. She trotted over to it and tried to open it, but found it locked. “Drat… good thing I know a lock-picking spell.”

Emerald’s jaw dropped. “No way. You, Twilight Sparkle the queen of goodness and virtue and living embodiment of Harmony, know a lock picking spell?”

Twilight nodded, blushing faintly. “Even living embodiments of Harmony have a sweet tooth. I used to sneak into the cabinet where my mom kept the cookie jar, I only stopped when she put in magic-proof locks.”

“Next you’re going to tell me you once forgot to return a library book,” Emerald said with a laugh, as the lock clicked and the two of them stepped out of the store room.

Twilight gasped, horrified. “Never! How dare you suggest such a thing!”

Emerald giggled and booped Twilight’s muzzle. “Now you’re sounding like Rarity.” She looked around again to find they were standing in an empty unguarded hallway with another door at the end. Through one of the windows they could see it was nighttime, which meant Luna would be in the throne room.

“I don’t recognize this part of the castle,” Twilight commented as they wandered along the hallway and through the double doors at the end. “Which means I have no idea how long it will take for us to get to the throne room.”

“Fine by me,” Emerald said, shrugging again. “It’s just good to be back home. The other Equestria is great and all, but there’s something to be said for where you grew up, you know?”

Twilight nodded. “I’m looking forward to seeing our friends again, especially Spike! I’ve never been apart from him for this long before!”

Emerald smiled as she came to a realization. “10 bits says Pinks is already planning a welcome home party for us.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “Pinkie Pie is many things, but I’m pretty sure she isn’t omnipotent!”

Emerald nodded. “Oh, I’m very sure. She probably woke up as soon as we crossed over with that Pinkie Sense of hers and is already starting to plan something as we speak.”

“Ten bits it is then,” Twilight replied, as they entered yet another hallway. “Oh, here we are! Finally, a part of the castle I recognize! This is the way to the library!”

“Of course it is,” Emerald teased, laughing again as they headed in the opposite direction to the library.

* * *

In the throne room, Princess Luna was holding Night Court. While it had never been attended as heavily as Day Court was, the gradual softening of her image from terrifying evil queen bent on unleashing the forces of darkness upon her subjects to Celestia’s right-hoof mare and the friend of every foal across Equestria meant that those ponies who were nocturnally inclined made an appearance each night, if for no other reason than to provide company during the long hours of darkness and what may otherwise be solitude.

For that reason, Night Court was a more informal affair, with Luna sitting on a large cushion that matched her coat color, and several smaller cushions grouped around it in a semi-circle. Among the regular attendees was Orion Shadow, who took the privileged position of sitting on Luna’s right. It was just the two of them tonight, for the other regulars were away on important business.

“Are you alright, Luna?” Orion asked, looking up at his princess with a concerned expression. “You just trailed off and haven’t said a word for the past few minutes.”

Luna blinked as if jolted back to reality. “What? Oh… I am quite well, Sir Orion. Apologies, I feel a stirring of something… as though that which once was lost has returned at last.”

As she spoke, the throne room doors creaked open and in came Twilight and Emerald. Not dead, as had been assumed by almost everypony, but very much alive. Twilight beamed and galloped across the carpet to the night princess, embracing her with the strength of an earth pony. (If she’d hugged Emerald like that, she would’ve broken her marefriend’s spine.) “Princess Luna! I am so happy to see you again!”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, as I live and breathe…” Orion whispered, adjusting his ever-present bow tie and grasping the lapels of his tweed jacket. “So you are alive, after all…”

“Well, yeah,” Emerald said, smirking at Orion. “You didn’t think we were really dead, did you?”

“Ah, well…” Orion fiddled with his bow tie again, “There was a funeral…”

“A funeral that can instead be replaced with a tremendous celebration!” Luna proclaimed, springing to her hooves. “I must wake my sister at once! The lost princess has returned at last! Rejoice, for she is risen!” And with that, she galloped away before anypony could get a word in edgewise.

* * *

One very long, very exhausting, but very happy “Welcome Back from That Other World Full of Ponies Who Walk On Two Hooves” Party later, Twilight and Emerald stepped inside Golden Oak Library and were immediately surrounded by smells they hadn’t experienced in some time: old wood, old books, and fresh ink.

“Buck me, am I glad to be home,” Emerald commented, trotting up to the loft. It was as clean as it had ever been, it seemed as though Spike had kept the place in good condition while they’d been away. 

“Me too,” Twilight agreed, floating a new framed picture onto their nightstand: a photograph of themselves, Sunset, Gem, Raven, and their human counterparts, taken on Gem’s phone during their first group sleepover together. “I’ll miss the other world, and I can’t wait until we can go back, but I’m happy to be where we belong again.”

Emerald chuckled, and softly sang: “Get back! Get back! We got back to where we once belonged…”

“Goof,” Twilight cooed, climbing into bed beside her marefriend. “Goodnight, Emmy. I love you.”

“Night night, Sparks,” Emerald whispered. “Love you too.” She turned out the lights, and in moments, the two of them were asleep.


End file.
